


No Running At The Pool!

by Thei



Series: Babysitting [7]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: M/M, Max is a little shit, billy also totally don't care about the kids (like at all. no really. he doesn't), billy is a lifeguard, billy takes pool safety very seriously, billy's whistle, she gets it from billy probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 06:48:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18911722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thei/pseuds/Thei
Summary: “So”, she said, faux-casually, and thus sending a chill down everyone’s spines, “what you’re saying is that you care about us?”“No”, he said gruffly. “I said that you’re not drowning on my watch. I’m a lifeguard. It’s my job. If you’re gonna drown, do it in your own time.”Another smile, sweet like poisoned honey. “But this is our own time. And you’re off duty.”





	No Running At The Pool!

**Author's Note:**

> Ahaha, so yesterday they released that Season 3 promo clip with Billy and his whistle, and yeah. This had to be written. It probably sucks and I haven't even read through it ONCE since I finished it (literally like seven minutes ago), so it is WOEFULLY UNBETA'D, but yeah. Like, inspiration strikes like a viper in the night, or something.  
> I'm not sorry.

_*THWIIIIIIT*_

“ _What_ did I just say? _No_ running at the pool!”

Max sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Give it a rest, Billy, you’re not at work now. It’s Sunday, and this is Steve’s pool!”

Billy straightened up and chewed on the end of his whistle, which had appeared in his mouth as soon as Will and Lucas had started moving at a pace slightly faster than a jog.

“And Steve isn’t here right now”, he said and glared at the offenders, who had the good sense to avert their eyes. “He put me in charge, and as long as I’m in charge –“

“– there’ll be no running at the pool”, the Party finished along with him. They knew. After four weeks of hanging out at the public pool (it was a warm summer, and Steve wouldn’t let them use his pool unsupervised – ie when he was at work) and having to endure Billy chewing out half of Hawkins’ population under the age of 14, they _knew_.

(They also knew the shrill sound of the whistle – intimately. So did everyone who visited the public pool. It had gotten to the point where all of them actually froze in whatever they were doing as soon as they heard it; bracing for Billy to tell someone what they’d done wrong this time. This pavlovian response to the whistle was something that Billy had figured out fast, and used to his advantage. Nowadays, he carried the damn thing with him all the time, and never hesitated to use it. Just the other day, he’d made a woman drop a carton of juice outside the grocery store when he blew it at Max for skating in the parking lot – the woman forgave him as soon as he turned on the charm though – apparently she was a regular visitor at the pool, and knew Billy by name.)

Now, he nodded sternly at them. “That's right.”

But Mike – because of course it was Mike – wasn’t ready to let it go just yet.

“What does it even matter if we’re running at the pool. It’s not like it’s concrete – it’s _water_. If we fall in, it won’t matter because all of us can swim!”

The others shook their heads in warning and motioned for him to shut up, and a wide-eyed Max frantically did a throat-cutting gesture, but it was too late. Billy’s eyes lit up at the opportunity to rant on proper pool protocol, and he took a couple of steps forwards so he was standing right in front of Mike. He tilted his head back somewhat, so he could look down his nose at the kid (because damn, Mike had really hit a growth spurt lately, and was almost as tall as Billy by now). The whistle was still between his lips – a threat, if there ever was one.

“Uh-huh, well aren’t you the little genius?” Billy sneered and pointed at the ground. “The _sides_ of the pool are concrete, though, aren’t they? So what if you hit your head on the way down, and end up unconscious in the water? You can’t swim if you’re unconscious.”

Billy leaned in closer, and Mike visibly struggled not to back away. He frowned, and licked his lips. Nodded towards the rest of the Party, who were standing off to the side, watching. “Well, if that happens, someone will pull me up.”

_*THWIIIIIIT*_

He flinched hard when Billy blew the whistle two feet from his face.

“Yeah, asshole, _someone_.” Billy drew himself up and pointed at himself with a thumb. “Someone, as in a _lifeguard_. As in a person who is _trained_ _to save lives_. As in someone whose advice you better take, to _avoid_ ending up in situations where your life is in danger.”

At this, Dustin piped up from the sidelines. “Come on. It’s not like we haven’t been through worse alr–“

_*THWIIIIIIT*_

Billy blew his whistle just as the rest of the party glared at Dustin, who abruptly shut up, looking chagrined. If Billy noticed the glares from the rest of the Party, he didn’t give any indication of it – too focused on trying to glare Dustin into submission.

“I don’t care what you’ve been through before. I care what you’re going through _now_ , on my watch. And you’re _not_ drowning on my watch.”

A pause, in which no one said anything at first. Then Max’s eyes narrowed, and a slow grin appeared on her face. It made everyone present squirm in discomfort – that kind of grin was never a prelude to anything pleasant.

“So”, she said, faux-casually, and thus sending a chill down everyone’s spines, “what you’re saying is that you _care_ about us?”

Billy, perhaps realizing that he’d made a wrong turn somewhere, stiffened.

“No”, he said gruffly.

“But you said that you _care_ what we’re going through now –“

“I said that you’re not drowning on my watch. I’m a lifeguard. It’s my job. If you’re gonna drown, do it in your own time.”

Another smile, sweet like poisoned honey. “But this _is_ our own time. And you’re off duty.”

Gritting his teeth, Billy glared at her with the kind of malice that was usually a precursor to some kind of violent outburst. The rest of the Party took an unconscious step back from the siblings.

“A lifeguard is never off duty.”

Mad raised her eyebrows, about to make a point.

“So you’re saying that it … oh, I don’t know … _Keith_ was running at the pool when you weren’t even working, you wouldn’t push him in just to be an ass, or trip him to watch him fall on his face?”

After a second – in which Billy seemed to be imagining the scenario, judging by the way he huffed out an amused breath – Billy grinned smugly. “That’s a trick question – Keith wouldn’t run if his life depended on it.”

Max crossed her arms over her chest.

“Just admit that you care.”

“Never.”

“Then what’s the harm in us running.”

“I told you already, you could get hurt.”

Even before he’d finished speaking, Billy looked like he wanted to take the words back. Max grinned, and didn’t hesitate before pouncing.

“But you just said you didn’t care! What’s it gonna be, Billy?”

Frustrated, Billy held the whistle in his hand in warning, before growling, “Listen here you little shit, I don’t care about any of you but Steve put me in charge of your well-being, and I –“

“– and you care about Steve”, she finished for him, smiling like a shark.

Momentarily dumb-struck, Billy just stared at her for several long seconds. The Party held their collective breath. Max wouldn’t stop grinning.

Then, Billy dropped his whistle. But only so that he’d be able to pick Max up from the ground. She barely had time to voice a protest before he threw her, kicking and screaming, into the water. There was a big splash, and a second later she emerged, cursing up a storm.

And Billy laughed. Like, a real _I’m-honestly-amused-_ laugh.

It was the Party’s turn to be struck dumb with shock. Only for a few seconds, though – a party member was down and the act demanded retribution. With a war cry, Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Will charged at Billy, who was too busy laughing to notice.

* * *

 

When Steve got back from the store with an armful of snacks and sodas, he found that the backyard had turned into a war zone. Three of the deck chairs were overturned, one was floating in the water alongside a towel, and all members of the Party except for Lucas were currently in the middle of the pool, huddling together. Lucas was on one end of the pool, holding Billy’s whistle in one hand, while Billy was stalking the other side without taking his eyes off his prey – when Billy ran one way, Lucas ran the other to avoid getting caught.

Both of them saw Steve at the same time.

“Steve!” Lucas yelled and ran at him. “Help me!”

“Steve!” Billy growled and followed. “Hold him!”

“Hey!” Dustin piped up from the water. “No running at the pool, remember?”

Everyone ignored him.

Steve dropped what he was holding and held his hands out in front of him to stop Billy from getting at Lucas, who had ran behind Steve and was hiding out of reach. “Whoa, guys, what’s going on?”

“He’s crazy and wants to drown us!” Lucas said.

“He’s gone mad with power!” Mike said.

“He threw us all in the pool!” Max said.

“These little shits wouldn’t follow pool safety protocol!” Billy rumbled, and tried getting around Steve.

Steve used the reflexes honed by years of basketball to stop him, and ended up holding Billy’s shoulders, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“So you threw them in the pool?”

“Yeah!” Billy said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “They were running around. They could have fallen in. Hurt themselves.”

“Let me get this straight”, Steve said, rubbing his eyebrow. “They were running at the pool, and could have fallen in. So you … threw them in the water for it?”

Billy gave him a look as if he was a bit slow, and nodded. “Yeah. Your point?”

Steve looked between Billy and the kids, who were now climbing out of the water, looking like drowned rats. He took a deep breath. Blinked a couple of times.

“You know what? Nothing. It makes perfect sense.” He turned to the kids. “You guys want snacks or what?”

His question was met with a somewhat subdued chorus of _Yeah_ s, and he roped Billy into helping him pick up the items he’d dropped and carry them into the kitchen.

“I want my whistle back!” Billy called after Lucas, who scurried past them to catch up with Max.

“In your dreams!” Max snarled as she tried to straighten out her hair.

Billy just grinned at her, looking pleased as pie.

Dustin stopped in the doorway and turned to Steve, pointing at Billy and frowning. “Leaving him in charge was the worst idea you’ve ever had, Steve!”

He glowered at Billy before he disappeared into the house. Steve turned to Billy, whose sharp grin melted into a real smile. At Steve’s questioning look, Billy shrugged.

“Leaving me in charge was the right thing to do, babe. I’m a _lifeguard_ , after all.” But then his smile slipped off his face, and he levelled Steve with a serious look. “But yeah, please don’t leave me alone with them again. They’re gremlins, all of them.”


End file.
